If you have a few employees or more, you can buy insurance through SHOP. And the government will underwrite a share of the cost.

"Obamacare will help small businesses with health-care costs, which have long been a source of anxiety," as financial columnist James Surowiecki points out. The reason: in current group plans, small businesses can face an "experience rating" based on a catastrophic health event for a single individual within the group. Once such an event hits, insurances companies can raise the rates.

"Insurance costs small companies 18% more than it does large companies," says Surowiecki. As a results, fewer than half the companies with under 50 employees provide insurance; and half of all uninsured workers work for small businesses, or are self-employed.

"In fact, a full quarter of small-business owners are uninsured, too," he points out.

The ability of single entrepreneurs and start-up businesses with just a handful of employees to obtain subsidized health insurance could lead to the development of even more small businesses, he says, citing a study that estimates 1.5 million businesses could form as a direct result of readily available health insurance.